GORDON'S ALIVE!!!

April 23, 2018 5:44 AM

Richard Herring 'interviews' Brian Blessed (slyt, nsfw swearing, discussions of the sexual antics of gorillas and bellowing)
posted by fearfulsymmetry (21 comments total)

RHLSTP podcast subscriber here... saw this when I refreshed it in iTunes this morning, can't wait to listen. I love how he capitalised Blessed's name on the ID tags, unlike all of his other episodes.
posted by rory at 5:54 AM on April 23, 2018

(Backstory: RH has been saying for months how Blessed is one of the guests he'd love to have on the podcast, asking any other guests with the slightest connection to BB all about him, so the sense of anticipation going into this one is huge.)
posted by rory at 5:57 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

#BLESSED
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:10 AM on April 23, 2018 [7 favorites]

Ha, this is more a monologue than an interview and I love it !!
posted by Pendragon at 8:22 AM on April 23, 2018

I haven't listened to the interview yet, but does it contain any snooker commentary?
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:29 AM on April 23, 2018

I've been listening to the podcast version whilst I've been out and about... particularly difficult not to just burst out laughing in public.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:35 AM on April 23, 2018

And here I thought I was the only person who mentally capitalized the name BRIAN BLESSED whenever it entered my mind.
posted by SteveInMaine at 8:40 AM on April 23, 2018 [5 favorites]

great post title!!
posted by supermedusa at 9:06 AM on April 23, 2018

This is one of the rhlstps that I just couldn't get into; I enjoyed Brian Blessed much more when he was an anecdote in Dan Schreiber's episode. I think it's because I'm not a fan of shouting.... which is also why I don't like Richard Herring's stand-up
posted by taskmaster at 9:10 AM on April 23, 2018

BRIAN BLESSED DOESN'T SHOUT! HE ORATES !!!
posted by Pendragon at 9:14 AM on April 23, 2018 [7 favorites]

Does that answer your question? This podcast episode has to be heard to be believed, indeed to be understood. It is indeed a monologue, but the term suggests more structure, or more intent than this performance has, I believe. At times you can see BB look up, as though scanning the cosmos for the next story to tell - regardless of what question he is asked. Very often with things like this you have to tell people 'it takes a little while to get going', but this is what it is almost as soon as Brian Blessed starts talking.
posted by SafetyPirate at 9:51 AM on April 23, 2018

Hmm, I thought this was going to be the guy from "Cocktail."
posted by rhizome at 10:47 AM on April 23, 2018

An extended Have I Got News For You episode hosted by in anarchic fashion by BRIAN BLESSED himself.
posted by kersplunk at 11:55 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

I recently listened to an old episode of the Infinite Monkey Cage, topic Space Travel, with Brian Blessed guesting; whilst his bombast on it was as wonderful as ever, it also had an unexpected and deeply, deeply moving moment where his sensitivity came to the fore.

Especially if all you have in your head when you think of him is allcaps, please do listen to this: The poem Brian Blessed read to Patrick Moore, 2 days before his death.
posted by protorp at 12:22 PM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]

I was there. It was a hell of a time. Glad this is finally out so the rest of the world can experience it - as someone else put it, it's like trying to interview a tsunami.
posted by parm at 1:36 PM on April 23, 2018 [4 favorites]

Brian Blessed is also "Grampy Rabbit" on Peppa Pig, so if you can locate those episodes, they are full of his massive oration and humor.
posted by nickggully at 3:31 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

"IS THERE ANYONE IN ROME WHO HAS NOT SLEPT WITH MY DAUGHTER!?"


"What sells it is the fact that, if you watch any videos of it, assuming copyright claims haven't deleted them, then you can actually hear the line reverberating BEFORE BRIAN BLESSED delivers it!"
posted by clavdivs at 3:58 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

If you like Peppa Pig and Brian Blessed you need 'The Big Knights', an earlier series from the same animators that has Brian Blessed playing one of the two knights (Sir Boris, finest swordsman in the world, and his brother Sir Morris, not the finest swordsman in the world, BUT THE MOST ENTHUSIASTIC)
posted by BinaryApe at 10:33 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Quinctilus Varus... WHERE ARE MY EAGLES!!!
posted by james33 at 5:20 AM on April 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

Listened to this on my commute on and off through the week, and finished it yesterday. What a delight—though with enough swearing that you may not want to listen to it within earshot of any Peppa Pig fans in your household. (Not that RHLSTP is ever suitable for that.)

Galahad of Everest, which Blessed discusses in the podcast, is on YouTube, for anyone wondering what to watch next.
posted by rory at 4:39 AM on April 27, 2018

That's our Brian.
posted by rory at 6:43 AM on May 20, 2018 [3 favorites]